Mass Effect 3: Broken Promises
by americancheeze
Summary: Shepard's past luck with love has been fraught with heartache by a painful break-up with Kaiden after the events on Horizon, but the last mission has reunited her with the man she found new love with: Jacob. However, she does not find the loving embrace she expected.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Betrayal

Garrus Vakarian lost himself in his work on the Normandy's weapons systems, performing a very common turian method of relieving frustration: making something better at killing things. As long as that thing was in the right hands, the negativity was always directed at the right targets and not friends. Garrus had always found it a good way to avoid putting his fist through things when he brooded.

The war with the reapers ravaging the worlds of everyone he cared about was bad enough, but their last mission – pulling Jacob and his fellow refugees from Cerberus out of a besieged complex – had him even more on edge. As far as Garrus knew Jacob was still on board talking with Shepard, having their little lovers' reunion after so much time apart, and one more person he didn't like on board made Garrus… calibrate the weapons systems.

Kaiden Alenko walked in and made noises that Garrus couldn't stand: he talked. "Garrus, I need to talk to you. It's about Shepard."

Garrus only bothered hearing the one word Kaiden couldn't make Garrus hate, "Shepard?"

"You were on that last mission right? What happened?"

"I'm sure Liara gave you the summary. It wasn't anything really. Just a firefight with Cerberus. Is something wrong?" Garrus turned, and noticed that Alenko had a black eye, "What happened to your face? You look better than usual."

"Shepard happened to my face."

"It's about time." Garrus turned back to his 'work'.

"Look, I know I'm not exactly popular on this ship after what happened with Shepard back then, but this is serious. I'm not the only one she punched. Jacob's in the infirmary. Hell she hit him so hard I'm surprised he didn't go flying and land there."

Garrus whipped around, "She hit Jacob?"

"A few times actually. Plus I'm pretty sure he'll never have children after that kick."

"I don't get it. They were so happy together after the Collector mission." Garrus replayed the events of the mission in his head. "Wait… crap."

Garrus had suspected Jacob and that doctor were overly close, but he hadn't thought Jacob would….

"Son of a bitch." He would have bit his lip if he had lips.

Kaiden pressed, "What is it?"

"None of your business, that's what." Garrus walked by him, making a point of bumping him as he passed.

"She's the mother of my child!"

Garrus glared, "That didn't stop you from turning your back on her on Horizon. It didn't stop you from refusing to let her see her daughter."

"She was working for Cerberus! I had every right to thin-"

"You had no right!" Garrus snapped back, "Shepard was dead for two years. _Two years_, Alenko! Two years of her child's life she missed because she put the Reaper threat first and you wouldn't trust the woman you said you loved! Worse, when you heard she was going off on a suicide mission to protect the entire galaxy, you thought she was nuts and wouldn't even let her see Sylvie!"

"I couldn't have known!"

"You could have, Kaiden. You just chose not to. Now, she's hurt again and all because you betrayed her."

"What are you talking about?"

"Jacob, the man you chased her off into the arms of, cheated on her while she was stuck on Earth."

"That bastard! When he wakes up I'll-"

"You'll get in line." Garrus growled, storming out of the room.

He resisted the urge to take his gun into the infirmary to use it on Jacob and his new girlfriend, who was probably at his side given that enough time had passed for Kaiden to pick himself up and find Garrus. Instead he went to the elevator and pushed the button to call it; but apparently it was in use. Garrus gritted his teeth, annoyed. He had to find Shepard and make sure she was okay!

He found himself thinking back on a time when they were gathering their strength to take on the Collectors, when Shepard, Tali, Liara, and him had all sat down for a drink at a bar not far from where Liara was working as an information broker. This was before Liara had become the Shadow Broker, just a short time after she'd finished cleaning house thanks to some information gathering they'd done that turned up spies in her operation. It was good having so much of the old team in one place, even if Alenko had not so long ago been an unreasonable ass to them.

_Garrus had been unintentionally hearing a quarian teenager complaining about her relationship issues to her turian friend. It was clear they were 'BFFs' and just as clear that turian was in love with her. She didn't seem to notice his subtle hints at all though, "I can relate."_

_ Shepard glanced over at the pair, having been hearing them too, and saw which one of them he was looking at, "You have an unrequited love for someone, Garrus?"_

_ He hadn't intended to say what he had out loud, "N-no! I mean… not right now. Haven't we all been through that when we were young though?"_

_ His friend grinned, forgetting the funk she had been in since Horizon, "Oh come on, you can tell me. Aren't we best friends?"_

_ Tali feigned offense, "I thought I was your best friend Shepard."_

_ "I can have more than one."_

_ Garrus sighed, trying to escape from his blunder, "Shepard, I promise you that I don't have anyone right this moment. When would I have time to fall in love? Right after clearing geth out of a crashing ship? Maybe right before putting a bullet through the eye of one of those collector flying tanks?"_

_ "You're right. I'm sorry. I was just teasing you. Anything to get my head out of my own ass." Shepard downed her drink, "The nerve of Kaiden! I didn't see him questioning my judgment when I started dating him or when I decided to keep our daughter. Now he won't even let me come near her!"_

_ Liara tried to reassure her, "I'm sure he just needs time. He'll come around."_

_ Garrus scoffed at the notion, "Kaiden's a fool. Plain and simple. Hell, Cerberus is anti-alien and we trust Shepard enough to work with them. If Tali and I believe in Shepard, then shouldn't he? He has even less reason to distrust them and even more reason to trust Shepard."_

_ "Exactly." Shepard kicked back another drink, "To hell with him. Father of my child be damned, he doesn't deserve the title."_

_ Tali put a hand on her arm, "Don't say that. Family is important! Shouldn't you try again for Sylvie's sake?"_

_ "I tried dozens of times. He won't respond to my messages or my calls. He doesn't want to try. Even for the sake of our daughter."_

_ "That stupid boshtet. He's the one that needs to get his head out of his rear, not you."_

_ "Tali's right, Shepard." Garrus took a swig of his own drink, "Just forget about him, we'll get you to your daughter before we head through the relay and then you can rub his face in it when we come back victorious. What's that human saying? There's more fish in the sea?"_

_ "You're right. If he's going to turn his back on everything we had, I don't need him. All I need right now is my daughter and you guys."_

Shoving his memories aside he punched the elevator button as if it would make who ever was on it get out faster. He wished more that he had punched himself though. Even more than Kaiden he blamed himself for what had happened. Kaiden hadn't been the one to push Shepard into Jacob's arms. It was Garrus. He'd been so mad at Kaiden then that he convinced her to make their split official, and then been too afraid to admit his own feelings. He saw Jacob and her growing closer as the mission neared the final hour and instead of going to comfort her when she still couldn't see her daughter Sylvie, he let Jacob do it. He let that bastard have her and throw her away.

He punched the button again, "Dammit, what is taking so long?"

EDI's voice came over the speaker nearby, "Garrus, the elevator is occupied. Commander Shepard has been moving from the upper levels to the bottom and then up again for the past ten minutes. I'm unsure why."

Trying not to panic, Garrus knew what he needed to do, "Stop it when it reaches this level and open the doors. Don't let her start it again when you stop it."

"Acknowledged."

"And give us some privacy please."

"Understood."

A moment later, the elevator doors opened and Garrus spotted Shepard sitting against the wall with her hand on the wall console, absentmindedly pushing the buttons. She looked deflated, and much to Garrus' surprise was not crying. She was looking straight forward at nothing and looked like she was stuck, unable to cry.

"Shepard!" Garrus stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind him.

She looked up, coming unstuck, her eyes tearing up and silently overflowing, "Garrus…."

The turian sat down beside her and held her, "It's okay."

"He… Jacob was seeing that doctor while I was stuck on Earth."

"I was afraid of that."

"He… they are going to have a baby." Shepard trembled.

Garrus was stunned, "They are?! Oh, Shepard, I-"

"What's wrong with me? Why… why can't-"

"Nothing's wrong with you! What's wrong with _them_? Anyone with a single brain cell could see you're perfect. You're everything any man could ever want."

"Then why?"

"I don't know. I can't understand why anyone would ever let you go once they had you. They must be out of their minds."

Shepard tried to stop crying, "I'm sorry… I shouldn't be like this. Everyone's counting on me. Millions are dying every day and here I am crying because my boyfriend cheated on me."

"You can't carry everything on your shoulders by yourself. Cyborg or not, the weight will crush you. We're a team right? We count on each other."

"I counted on Jacob, and Kaiden."

"Well, that's still not even half of the people that you have that you _can_ count on." Garrus smiled for her.

"I have to be strong for everyone. If they see me like this-"

"They'll hug you and help you kept moving forward. Just like I am doing right now." Garrus pressed, "Face it, Shepard, we're going to make you let us carry some of the load. We're not just a team at this point. We're family."

Shepard laughed, "A weird, messed-up family."

"The best kind."

"Thanks, Garrus." Her crying slowed to a stop, "Not just for this, but for always being there. You never doubt me; you never hesitate to follow me into hell. You've been there since it all started and never left when I needed you."

"And I never will."

They sat there, hugging each other in silence for a few moments as Shepard let herself draw on her friend's strength. Garrus, despite himself and despite the fact he didn't have lips in the human sense, pressed the front of his mouth to the top of her head. He meant it platonically. He wasn't a big enough jerk to take advantage of her. He just couldn't help but try to convey his caring through a human gesture.

"Ow." Shepard recoiled as the kiss touched her head, "Watch where you move your head, it's harder than mine."

Garrus stopped his face from showing the devastation in his heart, "Sorry."

She had mistaken the kiss for him bumping heads with her! It destroyed him inside. As much as he loved her, he was physically unable to give her the soft caresses that a human could easily do. Every part of him was harder than her; every part of him would hurt her if he let his passion loose. Garrus realized even more right then that he could never show Shepard how much he loved her. Even if they got together, he couldn't convey the full depths of his passion for her without hurting her.

She didn't notice a thing as she finished regaining her composure and stood up, "No, I'm sorry. I feel a lot better now. I'll be alright."

Garrus wasn't about to tell her either, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She smiled at him, "I got my crying out. Thanks for the shoulder to do it one."

"Sorry it wasn't softer."

"It's soft enough, you cuddly turian you." Shepard teased.

"Oh, now you're going to make fun of me getting all huggy?"

"Of course." She dropped the smile when she couldn't get the control panel to respond, "What's wrong with this thing?"

"Oh. I had EDI block your access and cut off her audio and video sensors in here. You were riding up and down the elevator for ten minutes you know. I couldn't let you keep doing that."

"I was? Wow."

"It's fine. I press buttons a lot when I'm upset too. Why do you think I calibrate the weapon systems so much?"

"I thought you were just sexual frustrated." Shepard teased.

Garrus pressed the button to send the lift up to Shepard's cabin, "Now I see how you treat your friends."

"No. Just my best friends."

Garrus thought he was lucky that humans couldn't read turian facial expressions that well.

Next Chapter: Disharmony

A/N: Yes I know Shepard never had kids and there wasn't enough time between Mass Effect 1 and 2 for a female Shepard to carry a child to term, but I just wanted the relationship to involve a kid. It's not like moving the two games a year apart instead of a month changes anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Disharmony

In his mind, Garrus was still beating his head against the wall when the elevator doors opened on the highest level of the ship. His face didn't betray this internal punishment and he would never let it. Shepard was feeling better after all. That was not saying a lot since she had been near catatonic moments before and was crying a moment after that; but it was progress regardless and not progress that Garrus would let his brooding over unrequited feelings and incompatible anatomies undo. He kept close to her, but not too close, and Shepard herself invited him to follow with a language that only knowing her for what felt like a decade could teach.

"God, I could really use a drink." she said simply, with an unspoken but clear invitation to have one as well.

Garrus knew she kept a few bottles in her cabin to avoid having to go all the way to the lounge to get supplies for a private drink, but he didn't really know what was in her personal supply. Not that it mattered. Alcohol was oddly the most universal drink between their species. Not including most wines there were only a few human kinds that were dangerous to the other races. Wines weren't a danger he'd be risking, since Shepard didn't really like wine. That Garrus knew that about her and Jacob never figured that out while they were dating pleased a small and petty part of the turian.

"I know what you mean." he replied as the door to the cabin shut behind him.

Other than the bits of exposed, but safe wiring from the not quite finished military retrofitting, the cabin looked mostly the same as Garrus remembered it from the one or two times he'd been inside during and after the Collector mission. It was larger than any apartment he'd ever lived in, and honestly could house two people comfortably.

Garrus fought back the image that came to mind of him coming out of the shower in the morning and seeing Shepard with breakfast ready for them and her daughter Sylvie. He made especially sure it was dispelled before the day dream version of the little girl smiled and called him Daddy. He wasn't in any state to handle that being just a fantasy, especially since he was getting near that age where he was starting to want kids. The 'biological clock' stereotype isn't only a thing that happens to women.

"I only have turian-safe drinks, so you don't have to worry. Grab whatever you fancy from the shelf there." Shepard pointed to the shelf near her desk as she passed it and headed over to the couch.

"Aren't I supposed to be here for _you_? What do _you_ want to drink?"

"Well, I'm just in the mood for a drink in general, so I don't really care. Nothing fruity though if there is still a fruity one there."

Garrus looked over the drinks, surprised a little that she would ever stock fruity drinks, "How often are you in the mood for something fruity?"

"After missions a lot of the time, but I rarely get drunk. Have to be in command you know."

"Yeah." as he replied Garrus suddenly noticed something out of place, "Wine? I thought you had only had-"

Shepard tensed, her expression falling, "Throw that away. I might shove it up Jacob's ass if you don't."

"Oh. So... you have it for-"

"Jacob. I got it on the Citadel when we found him and were getting ready to go extract him. Silly of me to do something romantic like have his favorite ready and waiting for him. Right?"

"Not at all. You're too good for him, Shepard."

"Obviously not."

"His poor judgment is no reflection on you." Garrus pressed, stowing the wine away in one of his belt slots for something he had in mind later involving target practice, though the shoving thing was tempting, "Hell, if anything... nevermind. That's not really any comfort."

"What?"

"I... I was going to say that he wasn't man enough for you and knew it, but-"

"Yeah, that doesn't really make me feel any better at all." Shepard sighed, "I make men feel insecure about their masculinity because I'm a damn fine soldier and a strong woman? Bah! I don't need to feel bad about being good."

Garrus came around the corner into the sitting area with a drink in each hand, "And you shouldn't. You just need someone that is comfortable with a strong woman."

Shepard grinned as she reached out and took hers, Garrus noted that like always she knew exactly which one he meant for her with no hint about it, "I'm not into krogan's though, Garrus, so I'm at a bit of a loss."

"Krogan aren't the only options for that."

"I think I might just give up for a while. Not like I have time for romance with the war on. Why should I stop for a candlelit dinner while hundreds die?" thinking about the war turned her expression south again and Shepard set down her drink with a sigh, putting her head in her hands, "What am I supposed to do, Garrus? I know I have to stop and rest sometimes, I'm useless if I can't stand up; but every time I close my eyes I can't help but think of the people I could be saving. Every second I am not fighting is one second longer people are dying. What do I do, Garrus? I'm coming apart at the seams as it is and now this? Now Jacob does this to me? I-" Shepard started to tear up again, "I'm not strong enough."

Garrus grabbed her hand from her face and squeezed it comfortingly, "There's nothing to say really other than you _are_ strong enough. Do you see any one of us doubting you? That time I got shot by that merc chopper did I blame you for not taking it down before it did? Nobody expects you to be a god, Shepard. We are counting on you because we know that your best effort is our best chance."

"I still can't help feeling like every death is my fault because I haven't stopped the Reapers yet."

"You're forgetting how many lives you're saving every time we go out. You saved the entire krogan race, Shepard, and you don't see it because Mordin died. You saved the quarian's _and_ the geth and can't see it because Legion died. You can't see it because you won't _stop and look_." Garrus wanted to throw in that she couldn't find true romance for the same reason, but didn't, "Just _stop and look_."

Shepard squeezed his hand back, but her expression only lightened slightly, "You're right. I need to stop for more than just my stamina."

The commander slouched a bit, reaching for her drink, "I'm so tired that it's hard to see the big picture. I've been in so many knots since the attack on Earth. With Kaiden back in my life, Sylvie still missing, and the moment I think I might have some respite Jacob betrays me."

"I'm sure Sylvie's alright. They just haven't sorted through all the refugees yet."

Shepard leaned back on the couch, her head lolling to the side as she exhaustedly kept looking at her friend. She didn't seem to pay any mind to the fact that this put her head on his shoulder, "I've been having nightmares ever since the attacks. When we were taking off in the Normandy a boy I'd tried to rescue that ran away from me ended up on a shuttle instead. It looked like he was going to be alright, but then a Reaper destroyed the shuttle. At first I dreamed of my failure to save him, but then he turned into Sylvie. Every night, I run through a burning forest trying to catch her, and I can't save her. Every time she catches fire as I reach her and burns away in front of me."

"Shepard... I don't know what I can say. No wonder you haven't been sleeping well."

Her eyes started drooping a little from sheer exhaustion, but were also rimmed with more tears, "If I could just see her again... know she was okay."

Garrus gently wiped the tears away, "You'll see her again. I know it."

The gesture put a small smile on her face, "You're too good to me Garrus. You shouldn't encourage me to be this weak."

"There's not a single weak part of you. Hell your tears will probably kick me out a window for trying to get rid of them."

That got her to laugh. Actually it was an uncharacteristic giggle that she only let herself do because she was too tired to make it sound less girly. The moment of civilian-like behavior made her sit up sharply and look disgusted at herself for a second, "God, I do need some sleep. I'm getting giggly."

"I'll make sure the galaxy doesn't fall apart while you take a nap."

"Definitely too good to me." She smiled, nonchalantly walking over to her bed.

As she put her omnitool on her bedside table and got ready to climb into bed, a part of Garrus wanted to go over and embrace her, confess everything and kiss her like a human man could, and take her to bed like a human man would, whispering in her ear that he would make all her pain and suffering go away, meaning every word of it. Her going to bed with him still there wasn't any kind of invitation though. Shepard didn't have the foggiest clue how unintentionally cruel she was being by leaning against him like she had and climbing into bed around him. Every single window to act on his feelings that he forced himself to ignore was like trying to crawl face first through razor wire to escape a paradise you didn't actually want to escape. He'd keep crawling though, because she was in no condition for him to be selfish like that. That fact he was thinking of his own feelings at all made Garrus ashamed of himself.

"Thanks for everything, Garrus. Sometimes I don't know what I would do without you."

"Like I said before, the same things but less stylishly."

"Much less." She smiled back, "I'll see you later."

"Yeah. See you later, Shepard."

Garrus waited until she climbed into bed, taking a moment to enjoy the rare sight he figured he was weird for enjoying and having brief fantasies about joining her. When he was sure she was actually going to bed and not going to run off and work more, he headed towards the door. His keen hearing barely caught the sound of her breathing steadying as she drifted off and Garrus let himself think that his comforting had helped with that.

He was about to go through the door when the console dinged from someone 'ringing the doorbell'. Garrus glanced back to Shepard to see if she was still asleep and opened the com channel at a low volume.

A noise he hated came over the speaker, "Shepard, I'd like to talk to you for a moment."

"She's sleeping, Kaiden. She needs her rest more than she needs you."

"Garrus? What are you doing in there? With her asleep?" the jealousy in his voice actually made the sound of it much easier on Garrus' ears.

The turian couldn't resist prodding him, "What you should have done on Horizon."

He meant 'be there for her', but if Kaiden interpretted it as hugging and kissing then that suited the petty side of Garrus just fine.

"How long are you going to hold that against me?"

"Come back later, Kaiden. Shepard is resting."

"I'm not going anywhere. Let me in, Garrus."

"No."

"I have the right to talk to the mother of my child."

"How long are you going to keep using that to hurt her? I told you she needs to sleep."

"Dammit, Garrus! If you want to start a fight with me, do it when there's not a steel door between us!"

Oh, did Garrus ever want to beat the crap out of Kaiden. He wanted it almost more than he wanted to hold Shepard in his arms, but, "I don't want to fight you Kaiden. That would wake her up. What part of 'Shepard needs sleep' do you not understand?"  
>But Kaiden couldn't back off, not in this situation. He couldn't let Garrus win and both of them knew it. If Kaiden didn't get through Garrus this time, he never would. Even though neither of them thought of Shepard as a possession, Garrus was staking his claim to the territory. Making a move on her or not, he was stepping into the window of opportunity and making sure he would be blocking any other window that opened. It was now or never.<p>

The signs of an omnitool bypassing the door controls made it clear that Kaiden was picking the now option. Garrus gritted his teeth at the sentinel's selfishness and started counterhacking, "You are such an asshole, Kaiden."

"Let me talk to Shepard, Garrus. I'm not leaving until I see her."

Another voice suddenly joined the struggle, obvious to the fact that two men were fighting over her, "Garrus, what's going on? I thought I heard Kaiden."

The com channel, still open, let Kaiden hear her and answer, "Garrus won't let me in. I need to talk to you."

Garrus did his best to take the growl out of his voice, "I tried to tell him you were sleeping and needed rest, but he wouldn't take no for an answer."

Shepard sighed, pressing the button to let Kaiden in, "What is so important, Kaiden?"

"I wanted to make sure you were alright and say some things I should have said a long time ago."

"I told you she was alright." Garrus shot back.

"You told me she was sleeping."

"And she needs the sleep. Yet here you are keeping her awake."

Shepard put a hand on Garrus' shoulder, "It's fine Garrus. Thanks for worrying about me, but it's not like he's going to keep me up forever."

Kaiden nodded, "Like I said, I just wanted to make sure you were okay and try to patch things up between us."

Shepard shook her head, "Kaiden, I'll be fine. As far as getting back together I already told you that wasn't going to happen."

"Just give me a chance to apologize and explain myself. You don't have to forgive me right away. I know you just got your heart broken-"

"_Again_." Garrus interjected with a stabbing tone.

Kaiden gave Garrus a glare that said 'Why are you still here?'

But it was Shepard that actually replied, "Garrus... could you..."

Garrus saw the look on her face. It was obvious she still cared for Kaiden and wanted to hear what he wanted to say, wanted him to be able to make amends. He also knew that he should let them talk it through. He was the father of her child and Garrus knew Alenko was sorry, yet he was still getting in the way of Shepard's chance at a loving, happy, normal family. Although Garrus hated it, he refused to be as selfish as he thought Kaiden had been when he insisted on seeing the sleeping Shepard. If Shepard could be happy with the bastard then it wasn't Garrus' place to get in her way.

"Fine." Garrus replied, unable to hide the frustration in his voice, and snatched up the bottle they had gotten drinks from from the nearby counter. He stowed it away on his belt and walked out, "I get it. See you later."

"Garrus?" Shepard was taken aback at the behavior, confused as to why he was so upset.

The turian meanwhile, was beyond the comfort of anything but the pointless self-destruction provided by copious amounts of alcohol. He didn't stop his angry march until he reached the hallway just outside his post at the weapons systems, where he yanked the bottle from his belt and chugged it remorselessly as he very aggressively leaned against the wall.

"What the hell am I even doing? If I was going to be possessive I should have done it a long time ago! Why am I grabbing at chances I missed ages ago? Dammit, Vakarian, you're such an idiot!"

Such was his self-loathing and despair that he didn't notice that he'd grabbed the wrong bottle from his belt until the wine was mostly gone and his stomach was a burning cauldron of wretching nausea. He stared at the bottle as the pain boiled his balance from under him and he hit the ground, struggling but unable to force the stuff out of his stomach. Garrus convulsed as he fought against the darkness trying to steal his conssciousness from him.

Next Chapter: Death and Division

A/N: Thanks for the positive feedback on the last chapter! I appreciate any feedback (positive or negative) on chapters. It's a good motivator and knowing how the audience is reacting is good for knowing if I'm getting the right feelings across. Also, if there are spelling and grammar errors I missed, I apologize. I'm in the process of switching computers and had to write this chapter in WordPad, which lacks spellcheck. Next chapter, more talking and more internal angst about unrequited love! Fear not, however, because I actually only intend this story to be 4 or 5 chapters. It may or may not include some events of the Citadel DLC, but will certainly include a new version of the game's ending that I am sure you will like.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Death and Division

A hour after Garrus had stormed out, Shepard had finished talking with Kaiden and managed to get a little sleep. It was a pretty quiet sleep actually, something she hadn't had in quite a while and hadn't expected to get. She supposed even dealing with Kaiden stirring up old emotions couldn't undo Garrus' reassurance. The turian was her best friend after all, and more than deserved the title.

She was thinking about that as she walked from the elevator towards the CIC, when her day was made far worse by Joker's worried words over the intercom, "Commander, you need to get down to the infirmary. They found Garrus collapsed in a hallway."

"What?! What happened?"

"I don't know, but it sounded sorta bad."

Shepard hurried back into the eleveator she had just left and punched the button for the crew level, "EDI?"

"Garrus appears uninjured but is experiencing severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Doctor Chakwas is still determining the source."

Shepard got from the elevator to the infirmary so fast she barely even remembered the crossing, and later found out she had totally ignored Liara's attempts at a friendly greeting as she passed and burst into the informary, "Garrus!"

The turian, a bit startled, replied but wasn't ledgible due to the hose the doctor had fed down his throat to pump out his stomach contents.

Shepard instead pressed Chakwas for answers, "Doc, what happened?"

"Calm down, Commander. Garrus will be fine. He just made the mistake of drinking something that was not safe for turian consumption. We caught it in time."

Shepard was horrified though, "I thought that liquor was turian safe. Oh, Garrus I'm so sorry!"

Garrus weakly shook his head and pointed at himself, as if saying it was his fault. He then pointed to a pair of bottles on Chakwas' desk. When Shepard went over and looked at them she quickly figured out what he was trying to say. One was the bottle he had stormed out with and they had gotten drinks from. It was mostly full. The other was the wine she had told him to throw out, it was mostly empty, but at a glance what was left looked like the other drink. He'd obviously been upset and took the other bottle to get drunk, but accidentally mixed it up with the wine bottle he'd pocketed earlier.

"He should really be more careful." Chakwas scolded.

Shepard shook her head, "No, I shouldn't have asked him to throw it out for me. He mixed them up because he was doing that for me."

Garrus grunted to pull her attention to him and gave her a disapproving look.

"It _is_ my fault, Garrus."

Garrus' brows shifted slightly and he pointed at himself.

"You wouldn't have made the mistake if you didn't have the bottle."

Chakwas couldn't follow the motions and expressions Garrus replied with.

But Shepard understood him like he was talking, "You were upset when you passed the chute, you can't say it was your fault for not throwing it away. And you were upset because of me and Kaiden. You were worried about me."

More incomprehensible motioning from Garrus, more pained and more insistent.

"Okay, okay. Nobody's fault. Just stay still, I don't want you hurting yourself more."

Chakwas gave the pair a curious look, and dismissed the scene with a knowing smirk before moving on to more important things, "The alcohol is all out now. I need to extract the tube and then I'll give him some medicine for the pain. He should be good to go after that, but I'd suggest he stay away from firefights for the rest of the day."

Garrus beat her to the first part, pulling the tube out as if he'd needed a stomach pump more than once before. He had, as getting drunk on Omega was always a risky propostion back when he was a vigilante, "Shepard, I'm the one that should apologize. I had no business acting like I did. I'm not a child."

"I'd hope not considering you just downed an entire bottle of wine." Chakwas joked, administering the pain killer, "This should last twenty four hours. After that the pain should be down to minor stomach cramps."

"Thank you, Dr. Chakwas."

The doctor could read the situation and excused herself, Shepard continued the discussion then, "Garrus... why were you recklessly downing entire bottles of alcohol? I know you don't like Kaiden but I didn't think you'd get upset to the point of stupid drinking."

"Sorry." Garrus went for a believable lie, "I'm running myself a little ragged too. Made it easier for him to get under my skin. It won't happen again."

"I know you hate his guts after the crap he pulled, but you can't need to be at each others' throat like this. I need everyone on my ship on the same page, not loathing each other to the point of self-destruction."

"You're asking me to forgive him for turning his back on us and doing what he did to you?"

"I suppose I am. I've decided to get over it, so you should too. After all, he had no way to know I wasn't being controlled. Hell, I didn't even know what all they put in me at the time."

"He should have given you a chance to prove yourself." Garrus pressed, "Instead he refused to give you even the slightest bit of faith. Forgive him if you want, but that's the one order I won't obey."

"You hate him that much?"

"Hell I can't see why you _don't_ anymore."

Shepard sighed, "He's the father of my child, Garrus."

"He keeps playing that card. Looks like it finally worked."

"Garrus, I _can't_ hate him with Sylvie in the picture. I don't want her growing up in an environment where her parents can't stand each other." her expression soured, "If she's even still in the picture."

Garrus reached out and touched her arm softly, "She'll turn up."

"I'd like to think I would feel it if she was dead, but that's never helped parents in the past."

Garrus sighed, "Shepard, I'll act civil around Kaiden alright? Sylvie won't see her Uncle Garrus trying to tear her father's head off. I'd never act like I did up there in front of her."

"I know." Shepard put on a small smile for his sake, but it faded, "You know... I've actually only seen her a few times thanks to being confined to the base, but we talked a lot when we could. Once Kaiden knew I wasn't going to be any danger to her he tried to make up for his mistake."

"That's the only reason I haven't decked him."

Shepard chuckled at the thought of her best friend beating up Kaiden for being an ass to her. It reminded her of her younger days when she had a couple surrogate older brothers that would send anyone trying to woo her through a gauntlet. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a picture of a little girl, tall for her age and very healthy looking. Red hair like her mother, but with her father's eyes and eyebrows. Shepard was in the picture too, hugging the girl, both looked perfectly content. She'd shown Garrus the picture before, so he knew what she was lookng at.

"She'll turn up, Shepard. If she's anything like you she'll have taken out a Reaper or two on the way as well."

"Well, maybe if they took her teddy bear." Shepard smiled, "I gave her that you know. Kaiden kept complaining that she'd never let him take it away to wash it."

"She loves you a lot obviously."

"She barely knows me."

Garrus smiled, "What is that old human line? 'To know you is to love you'?"

"What is it with you and quoting humanity lately?"

He shrugged, "I get bored sometimes and watch old movies that are in the ship's database. This is an Alliance ship you know. Mostly human stuff in there."

"Ah." Shepard went back to looking at the picture, "You know, I bet she'll adore you Garrus. I know I do."

She didn't see her friend wince at her platonic adoration, "I hope she does. The last thing I want to be is the annoying uncle that keeps visiting because everyone is too polite to tell him to go away."

Shepard pictured that in a somewhat sitcom-like scene and chuckled. Garrus had a real talent for saying things that brought amusing thoughts to her head, "You could never be the annoying uncle." She stashed the picture again and set about teasing her friend, "Maybe the drunk one if this mess is any indication."

"If this becomes a habit I'll be the _dead_ uncle." Garrus groaned.

Joker's voice over the intercom broke into the conversation, "Commander, we're heading into the Citadel, should I call for an ambulance for Garrus?"

"I'm fine now Joker, don't worry about it."

"Oh. Well, glad to hear it."

Shepard went back to her usual on-duty self, "Go ahead and take us in Joker, I'm sure we could all use a bit of shore leave."

"Hell yeah."

Garrus hopped to his feet and headed for the door, "Let's stop being messes for now and get on with things alright? You feeling up to it?"

Shepard followed him out, "Of course. I'm Commander Shepard, I'm badassery incarnate if those CGI vids are to be believed."

"Well if those vids are to be believed you break every window within 500 feet of you just by fighting in the general area."

"Yeah, too bad the Reapers aren't made of windows." Shepard sighed, then as they arrived once more at the lift she hit the button to get to the level where they could get off the ship, "That aside I'm seeing this elevator way too much today."

"Yep."

"I'll be glad to not see it for a bit. You have any plans for the break?"

Garrus shrugged, "Got to do a little shopping, but other than that I'll probably just walk around and see the sights. You?"

"Well, first thing's first I'm going to check the refugee shelter for Sylvie again, after that I've got a delivery to make, beyond that I've got nothing."

"I'll come with you for the first part. Two heads are better than one."

"Three. Kaiden's coming."

"Of course. How could I forget?"

Shepard gave him a lightly stern look, "Be nice."

"Hey, I promised didn't I? Plus, looking for Sylvie is more important than petty grudges. You can count on me."

"Good." Shepard noticed Garrus start to say something, but decide against it, "What?"

"Oh, um. Later, if we have free time I was wanting to show you something."

"What?"

"It's sort of a surprise. Nothing major, but I thought of it when we were talking in your cabin. Seems a bit pointless now, but it was something to help vent some stress."

"Something you thought of while in my cabin to help vent stress?" Shepard raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

Garrus went wide-eyed, "Not _that_! It came out wrong. I was talking about some target practice at a place I know."

"I knew you didn't mean that." Shepard chuckled as the elevator arrived and she stepped on, "Target practice sounds nice. It's a date."

That last bit nearly made Garrus forget to get on the elevator with her, but this time Shepard seemed oblivious to his reaction.

However, it would turn out that their target practice would have to wait. When the trio walked into the refugee shelter they were met by a flash of red hair and bright smile in the crowds and a joyous exclamation that made all the anguish in all three of them melt away. A tall four year old girl bolted around some tired looking people and straight for them.

"Mommy!"

Shepard was so happy she didn't even remember snatching Sylvie from the ground and hugging her as they whirled around. One minute she was running towards Shepard, the next they'd stopped twirling and were just hugging. Tears of joy were pouring from Shepard's eyes like faucets, "Sylvie! Oh my god, Sylvie! You're okay! You're really okay!"

"Mommy! I missed you! I was scared the big bugs got you!"

"No, they didn't get me." Shepard chuckled for no real reason other than happiness. "I squished two of them!"

"Two?" Sylvie was amazed, "Where did you get a shoe big enough?"

"I didn't use a shoe. I got a bunch of people to bring their bug spray and help."

"How many?"

"Twenty cruisers full!"

"WOOOOW! Mommy's cool!"

Kaiden chuckled, even though he was feeling a little forgotten, "What am I? Chopped liver?"

Sylvie pouted at him, "Mommy said I should say 'Yes' if you ever asked me that."

"Ha. That sounds like something your mom would say." Kaiden held out his arms, "Come here and give Daddy a hug."

Sylvie however, was intent on taking her mother's side if there was still an argument and did not budge, "Are you and Mommy still mad at each other?"

Shepard passed Sylvie to Kaiden, "No, we're not mad at each other anymore."

"You made up?"

Kaiden glanced to Shepard, who looked at him indecisively before turned back to her daughter, "We're still working that out."

That surprised Garrus, he'd worried their conversation in the cabin had led to them getting back together. Not that it changed anything. Surely they'd be back together now that Sylvie was back, and Garrus was genuinely (mostly) okay with that. As long as they were happy together.

He wasn't okay with being the fifth wheel though, "I should probably leave you three along for a while. This is more a family thing."

Shepard turned with a disapproved look on her face, "Don't be silly, you're part of the family too." stepping out from between Garrus and her daughter, Shepard introduced them, "Sylvie this is your Uncle Garrus, he's not blood-related but he's Mommy's best friend in the universe."

Sylvie ignored most of that, the three-year-old being distracted by, "KITTY!"

Garrus was startled by the declaration and the girl's arms frantically reaching for him, "Kitty?"

Shepard was only confused for a moment, then chuckled, looking to Kaiden, "Has she ever met a turian?"

Kaiden thought about it, "I'm not sure, obviously not." Kaiden passed their daughter back to Shepard, "He's your best friend, you fix it."

Shepard rolled her eyes and moved her daughter closer to Garrus, "Garrus isn't a kitty. He's a turian?

"Kittuwian?"

"No. Turian's are not kitties."

Garrus chuckled, "I've never even thought about it, but I guess some of us do resemble cats."

Sylvie seemed unsually concerned about this, "Not a kitty?"

"No. I'm not a kitty. Sorry."

Suddenly, Sylvie turned without regard for the fact she nearly wriggled out of her mother's arms and called out to a turian C-Sec officer working the desk at the shelter, "Officer Kitty!"

The turian tried not to look annoyed when he looked over.

"I'm sorry I thought you were a kitty! That was wude."

"That's alright kid. Just remember from now on."

"I will, Officer Tuwian!"

The officer cleared his throat and tried to ignore how cute that was but Garrus was a little wide-eyed at the scene, "That... was the most adorable thing I have seen in my entire life."

Sylvie smiled, taking it as a compliment, "Thank you, Unca Gawus."

The little girl reached out to Garrus, obviously wanted to be handed over for hugs. Shepard gave him look that asked for his permission. The turian gave Sylvie a smile, "Be careful when you hug me, Sylvie, I have a lot of pointy bits. Promise you won't wiggle around too much?"

"I pwomise!" she reached more insistently, "Hug!"

Chuckling, Shepard carefully handed her daughter over to her friend, "I told you she'd adore you, Garrus."

"She probably still thinks I'm a kitty."

Syvlie pouted at the thought, "No. Unca Gawus is a tuwian." the little girl wiggled slightly, noting the weird build of the turian compared to her parents with amusement, "And lumpy!"

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Yes!" Sylvie giggled.

Kaiden found that hilarious, "Garrus always was popular with the ladies. Everyone of them on the ship is friends with him. Never thought it was because he's lumpy."

Garrus glared at the man.

Sylvie hugged him harder and joined the glare with her own pout, "Daddy stop being mean to Unca Gawus!"

"Why am I always the bad guy?" Kaiden laughed.

Sylvie stuck her tongue out at Kaiden, "Gawus is Mommy's friend and you were mean to Mommy. You should be nicer to her."

Garrus was very amused by this, "Wait, so you're only on my side because I'm your Mommy's friend and you are mad at your Daddy because he kept you from her?"

Sylvie nodded, then whispered in Garus' ear, "And Daddy buys me ice cweam when I bring that up. You want some too?"

Garrus laughed and looked at Shepard, "She's just like a tiny you, Shepard! Haha!" Looking back at the girl, "Sylvie did you squish any of the big bugs like Mommy when you were on Earth?"

"No. I yelled at one to go away and stop being mean though! It listened!"

Putting aside the fact that the Reaper had probably just not noticed her there and left of its own will, it was still hilarious picturing a tiny, three-year-old version of Shepard threatened a Reaper.

Shepard didn't find it that funny though, "Sylvie, if you ever see one again I want you to run away alright? Even Mommy needs a lot of help to squish them. Understand?"

"Alwight, Mommy."Sylvie nodded, then abruptedly changed topics, "Are we going home now? Together?" the girl gripped Garrus tighter to communicate she was including the tuwian in that.

Shepard was about to answer, but Kaiden interjected, "Actually, would youu mind playing with Uncle Garrus for a little bit while your Mommy and I talk about that?"

"Okay!" Sylvie whipped her head around and would have hit one of Garrus' mandibles if he weren't being alert for sudden thrashing, "You want to play with me, Unca Gawus?"

"Sure, I'd love to. Let's go over there out of everyone's way okay?"

Kaiden nodded his approval of the place and smiled, taking Shepard a bit away so they could watch them while talking privately, "Well, she seems to really like Garrus."

"Yeah. He's just a big fluffly kitty when you get to know him."

"Minus the fluff."

Shepard couldn't deny the fluff was entirely metaphorical, "You wanted to talk about us?"

"Yeah. I know I said I didn't need an answer right away and I can still wait, but I thought maybe with Sylvie back we should consider it sooner rather than later. You don't have to forgive me right away. I just want Sylvie coming back to a family that isn't broken. We can all live together and work on really patching it up at our own pace."

Shepard watched her daughter and best friend playing as Kaiden spoke, and she thought deeply about what he was asking. Kaiden wanted to get back together, but was willing to play pretend at first for the sake of giving Sylvie what she wanted without pressuring Shepard. It was good of him. Kaiden truly wanted to make up for his grave mistake. It was what was best for Sylvie too. Right? Having her mother and father together under one roof with her as a family. No taking turns living with one or the other and no worrying about taking sides or not having one or the other for special events. Getting back together with Kaiden was the best things for her... Right?

Shepard found her gaze shifting from Sylvie's delighted expression as she played to Garrus'. The look on his face made her freeze. His expression was brighter and happier than she had seen it in years. In fact the closest Shepard had seen his face ge to that was when they reunited on Omega. Garrus, weary from holding position against mercs for days, took of his helmet to reveal that he was the 'Archangel' person she'd come to recruit for her mission against the Collector's. His face when she teasing asked him about the call sign and he explained the citizens had given it to him was a bit embarassed, but also happy. More than happy he was content, fulfilled. He knew what he was doing mattered to people. His expression as he played with Sylvie was a lot like that. Content and fulfilled, like playing with Sylvie was making his life more meaningful than even fighting the Reapers was. It was... jarring and that expression made Shepard realize something.

She turned to Kaiden, "Kaiden... I don't think we can get back together."

Next Chapter: Greed and Gallantry

A/N: Okay, probably going to be five chapters after all. This went a bit longer than I thought and didn't cover as much as I wanted to. Next chapter will probably have some Citadel DLC events in it and then chapter five will jump to the new ending events for the game and some epilogue stuff. Might do some more chapters after that, but the main story of this fic will end at chapter five.


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